NORFOLK, Va (WAVY) — An employee of a Days Inn in Norfolk is out of a job Monday after an incident caught on camera.
In the video, a customer begins recording his encounter with the employee after he says the employee used several racial slurs.
Joshua October was supposed to be leaving to do a sound check for his show Thursday morning when a quick grab for yogurt at the hotel quickly changed everything.
“He comes over to the door and stands in front of the door and he is yelling at me, basically telling me to put it back,” October said. “I’m like super confused because yesterday I grabbed like three of these yogurts and nobody was coming at me.”
Eventually, the man let him pass, but October says the harassment continued, and that’s when he knew he needed to record.
“Prison boy, good ole prison boy, here look at prison boy. Look at that little f****** dumb a** hairdo he’s got looks like a f****** mop,” said the man in the video.
“It was so judgmental, it’s 100 percent discrimination, it was 100 percent racism behind that because just the day before I grabbed three yogurts.”
October says more than anything he was confused.
“In no industry you work in, it could be retail, it could be food, restaurant, should you ever speak to a guest like that, it doesn’t even matter how upset that they got you, like you will get fired for speaking to a guest in that manner,” October said.
That’s what he told the employee in the video, but the man didn’t seem to care.
“You’re going to lose your job,” October said.
“Do you think I care? Do you really think I care? I ain’t going to lose my job over you,” said the man.
The Days Inn management team felt differently.
In a statement they said:
“The comments made by this individual are deeply troubling and are in no way reflective of our brand values or our expectations of franchisees. Upon learning of this incident, we immediately reached out to the hotel’s owner, who has since informed us that the individual in question is no longer an employee of the hotel. We extend our sincere apologies to this guest, who will be receiving a full refund from the hotel along with additional compensation as a goodwill gesture on behalf of the brand.”
“It does make me feel good, but I mean the question is did he learn his lesson? And I don’t think so. I think that is something that he has to teach within himself to change, and it is not going to happen overnight, and it’s not going to happen because he got fired,” October said.
